Russian Expedition Finds Living Cells from Extinct Mammoth

An international caving expedition to the north eastern Russian republic of Yakutia has allegedly resulted in the discovery of living cells from an extinct mammoth.

The expedition, known as Yana-2012, involved a team of scientists from Russia, South Korea, USA, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The scientists discovered soft tissue, fatty tissue, fur and bone marrow of ancient mammoths, about 100 meters (328 feet) under the permafrost in the Ust-Yansky district of Sakha.

There is excitement among some scientists that the remains could be used to clone the ancient mammal, although others remain skeptical and question why the discovery was not announced in a scientific journal.